Firefighters Want Free Blood Tests

DELRAY BEACH — Union negotiators for Fire Department employees are asking the city, in the form of a two-year contract, to finance yearly blood testing to help prevent ``communicable diseases.``

``The odds of us contracting diseases such as hepatitis, syphilis, and AIDS,`` are very high compared to the normal person,`` said Jim Powers, vice president of Professional Firefighters of Delray Beach.

The union wants the city to presume any department worker diagnosed as having a ``communicable disease`` contracted it on the job, Powers said.

Firefighters said there was no problem before the AIDS outbreak in South Florida and the city`s refusal to compensate a department engineer who said he was exposed to hepatitis during a rescue call.

``We are working on sick people, and you can`t just stop and ask their medical history,`` said Powers, a firefighter for five years. ``The burden of proof should be on the city because they know we`re subjected to these diseases.``

Marty Buben, the city`s personnel and labor relations director, could not be contacted for comment Thursday, but said earlier she would not comment on the union`s demands until formal negotiations begin.

Bargaining will continue July 17 for the contract, which would take effect Oct. 1.

In the case of the engineer, Powers said, the man was told after he donated blood that he had been exposed to hepatitis.

Firefighters traced the engineer`s contact with hepatitis to a case in which a man who had the virus was shot in the abdomen. According to city policy, an employee must prove he contracted the disease through his work.

When the engineer asked the city for compensation, Powers said he was refused because he was unable to prove he had been exposed to hepatitis on the job and because almost two years had passed.

``That`s why we need testing,`` Powers said.

``The additional salary would be nice, but we want some protection,`` he said. ``Some of us have families to protect.``

Besides annual blood testing for communicable diseases, union negotiators have asked for a 9 percent pay increase and demanded rubella inoculations for woman of childbearing age and vaccinations against Type B hepatitis.

The union`s demand for testing and disease prevention was recommended by the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

``We`re at a high-risk group because of our occupation,`` he said. ``The tests are a preventive measure that will detect diseases. How can you prevent something that you don`t know you have?``